Clean and refinish can of worms

MilsurpDan · Jan 25, 2022

mawkie said:
-I'll give you another option. In the past I've done business with Andrew Zink of Augustus Fine Antiquities in Switzerland. Andrew used to always attend the MACA show in Timonium in March. I bought a nice K31 stock from him for a great price in the years before COVID. Drop him a line and see if he's planning on attending this year's show. If he is and he has a stock available you could arrange to pick it up at the show as Andrew has always shipped over inventory for the show, including long arms (visit him if he's at MACA this year, I guarantee you'll find at least one cool item to throw money at).

I don’t think Andrew is going to be at the show this year. They usually have a large show in Switzerland that he likes to go to around the same time. He’d be worth contacting to find something though. If anything, he could ship it.

Threeband · Jan 25, 2022

It looks like a nice K31 with a fairly typical K31 stock. I know, they just look bedraggled. I understand the temptation to refinish it.

I just recommend you don't do anything impulsive. Rifles with oil finished stocks can be gently cleaned and re-oiled, but that doesn't really apply to the K31. They seem to have some sort of shellac finish, which gets cracked and crazed and flakes away. The light beech wood really shows the filth and oily grime that gets soaked in over the years. I don't think there's an easy answer.

A purist would say, live with it. Accept its honest bedragglehood. But I sympathize with the desire to really clean and re-shellac it, and a pragmatic non-purist might call that a moderate and respectful approach.

What say the collector purists?

And by the way, is that plain shellac? Does anyone really know?

Zorros · Jan 26, 2022

Biggfoot44 said:
I was intrigued to see a stock chewed by Beavers , but this wasn't it . I once had a stock chewed by a dog , and wanted to see what a Beaver could do .

The speculation of water/ snow damage is plausible and likely .

Remove the butttplate and check the wood underneath . If called for , do appropriate wood stabilization .

These guns were stacked butt down in the snow. Many look like this one. Did you check for a troop tag under the butt plate? My opinion…do what makes you happy. You won’t ruin the value; they’re not expensive to begin with. Not like cleaning an 1873 colt SAA.

MTplinker · Jan 26, 2022

Zorros said:
These guns were stacked butt down in the snow. Many look like this one. Did you check for a troop tag under the butt plate? My opinion…do what makes you happy. You won’t ruin the value; they’re not expensive to begin with. Not like cleaning an 1873 colt SAA.

Yep, did that first thing out of curiosity. There’s a troop tag, and some internet sleuthing yielded a translation of the abbreviations. Seems to have been issued to a fella in a mountain troops unit. Fus.= fusilier of Geb. = Gebirge mountain troops unit in Kaltbach.

The 35 = 1935, which would have been the soldier’s year of birth. That agrees with start of mandatory military service around age 18 or 19 in 1954, which is the weapon’s year of manufacturing from its serial number.

MTplinker · Jan 27, 2022

It’s supply chain issues

Melnic said:
Not always but they do refinish them

Supply chain issues- you can’t find canned worms anywhere.

Biggfoot44 · Jan 27, 2022

But you could home can them , if you already had the Mason Jars

MTplinker · Jan 28, 2022

Yummy

Biggfoot44 said:
But you could home can them , if you already had the Mason Jars

Just like my great grandmother used to. Ick, I’ll pass.

TGR · Feb 2, 2022

Big difference between cleaning and refinishing. I love patiently cleaning stocks to find hidden gems / markings that weren’t there before. A little fresh oiling after and good to go.

Clean and refinish can of worms

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